Chapter 20 of The Law and the Lady is here in full — 327 sentences across 66 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Law and the Lady is here in full — 327 sentences across 66 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right. Let us go.” The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog. He heard me say, “Let us go.” “No!” he called out.
Chapter 20 of The Law and the Lady is here in full — 327 sentences across 66 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/65 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
on or starting from the wearer's right
From this reading “The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.”
having a strong distaste from surfeit
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
made less hopeful or enthusiastic
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
made afraid
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
(used as intensives reflecting the speaker's attitude) it is sincerely the case that
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
responsive to physical stimuli
From this reading “The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.”
in an exhaustive manner
From this reading “THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “No!” he called out.
confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
on or starting from the wearer's right
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
having a strong distaste from surfeit
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
made less hopeful or enthusiastic
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
made afraid
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Let us go.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He heard me say, “Let us go.”
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading He heard me say, “Let us go.”
(used as intensives reflecting the speaker's attitude) it is sincerely the case that
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let us go.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He heard me say, “Let us go.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
not any; not one
From this reading “No!” he called out.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading “No!” he called out.
precisely, exactly
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
express in words
From this reading He heard me say, “Let us go.”
responsive to physical stimuli
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The ears of Miserrimus Dexter must have been as sensitive as the ears of a dog.
in an exhaustive manner
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Let us go.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading THOROUGHLY disheartened and disgusted, and (if I must honestly confess it) thoroughly frightened too, I whispered to Mrs. Macallan, “I was wrong, and you were right.
Chapter 20 of The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins holds 327 sentences, grouped into 66 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 20 holds 327 sentences of The Law and the Lady, unabridged, divided into 66 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 327 sentences, grouped into 66 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 66 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 66 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 20 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9493 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1622 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1622, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1899 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Law and the Lady section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Law and the Lady to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Law and the Lady, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
